User interface method for terminal for vehicle and apparatus thereof

ABSTRACT

A user interface method for a terminal for a vehicle is provided. The terminal obtains position information to detect a point of a road. A road image of a driving direction is obtained, a lanes of the road represented on the obtained road image is recognized, and a point of a road and lane in which the vehicle having the terminal arranged therein is detected. A virtual road image regarding the recognized lanes is generated, and the generated virtual lanes are added to the road image of the driving direction of the vehicle, and displayed. Traffic information for each lane and surrounding information (i.e. lane closure, construction, accident, etc.,) at the detected point of the relevant road are obtained, and the obtained information is displayed for each virtual lane.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a Continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 13/422,235 filed on Mar. 16, 2012, which claims the benefit ofpriority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) from a Korean patent application filedin the Korean Intellectual Property Office on May 16, 2011 and assignedSerial No. 10-2011-0045568, the entire disclosure of which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a terminal for a vehicle. Moreparticularly, the present disclosure relates to a user interface methodfor providing information helpful to an operator while driving a vehicleand an apparatus thereof.

2. Description of the Related Art

An automobile in many parts of the world has become a primary movementmeans of a modern society. However, it is well known that an automobiletraffic accident can endanger lives of a driver and a fellow passengers,and way to reduce the amount of automobile accidents is sought bytraffic experts, safety experts, and insurance companies.

Recently, various terminals for a vehicle have been developed to assistwith driving, and example of such a terminal is a navigation terminal.The navigation terminal provides information of a path and directionsfor the fastest route to drive, and even informs the driver when toturn, etc. Furthermore, a vehicle has various equipment for safedriving, such as, for example, a rear camera allowing a user to view theback of the vehicle when pulling out of a parking spot, a distancesensor informing a distance between cars to assist in a safe park, etc.

With regard to the navigation terminal, typically, such navigationterminals provide only a path from a departure to a destination and doesnot provide traffic information for regarding potential hazards on theroadway. As there is a danger of a traffic accident caused by a car infront, back or to either side of the vehicle always exists, analternative method for providing traffic information for eachsurrounding vehicle is needed.

SUMMARY

An exemplary aspect of the present invention provides a user interfacemethod for assisting a user to drive safely and an apparatus thereof fordriving a vehicle.

Another exemplary aspect of the present invention is to provide a userinterface method for providing information helpful to driving a vehicle,and an apparatus thereof.

Still another exemplary aspect of the present invention is to provide auser interface method for providing traffic information for each roadand surrounding information and an apparatus thereof for driving avehicle.

Yet another exemplary aspect of the present invention is to provide auser interface method for providing traffic information and surroundinginformation of a roadway to be changed with priority in case of changingthe carriageway in driving a vehicle, and an apparatus thereof.

Further yet another exemplary aspect of the present invention is toprovide a user interface method for inducing a user's safe driving byadditionally showing traffic information and surrounding information foreach roadway and the surrounding lanes by providing an image that showsan actual road, and an apparatus thereof.

Other exemplary aspects, advantages and salient features of thepresently claimed invention will become apparent a person of ordinaryskill in the art from the following detailed description, which, takenin conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses exemplaryembodiments of the invention.

In accordance with an exemplary aspect of the present invention, a userinterface method for a terminal for a vehicle comprises obtainingposition information to detect a point of a road, obtaining a road imageof a driving direction, recognizing a road represented on the obtainedroad image, and detecting a point of a road, generating a virtual roadregarding the recognized road, adding the generated virtual road to theroad image of the driving direction, and displaying the same, andobtaining traffic information for each road and surrounding informationat the detected point of the relevant road, and informing an operator orpassenger of the vehicle with the obtained information for each virtualroad.

In accordance with another exemplary aspect of the present invention, anapparatus for a terminal for a vehicle comprises an output unit thatoutputs image data and voice data, a position information receiver thatobtains position information, a rear camera that captures a road imageof a driving direction, a traffic information receiver that receivestraffic information for each road via at least one network, a vehiclesensor receiver that communicates with a vehicle via a wired line orwirelessly, and obtains surrounding information for each road from thevehicle, a storage that stores a predetermined program for controllingan overall operation, and various data input/output when a controloperation is performed, and a controller that performs an overallcontrol; wherein the controller recognizes a road from the road image ofthe driving direction, detects a road in which the terminal ispositioned, generates a virtual road for the recognized road and addsthe generated virtual road to the road image of the driving directionand displays the same, detects a point of a road from the positioninformation, and displays traffic information and surroundinginformation for each road at the detected point of the relevant road foreach virtual road.

A vehicle having a user interface apparatus according to the presentinvention is provided wherein the apparatus comprises an output unit foroutputting image data and voice data, a position information receiverfor obtaining position information, a rear camera for capturing a roadimage of a driving direction, a traffic information receiver forreceiving traffic information for each road being traveled via at leastone network, a vehicle sensor receiver for communicating with a vehiclevia a wired line or wirelessly, and obtaining surrounding informationfor each road from the vehicle, a storage for storing a predeterminedprogram for controlling an overall operation, and various datainput/output when a control operation is performed, and a controller forperforming an overall control, wherein the controller recognizes a roadfrom the road image of the driving direction, detects a road in whichthe terminal is positioned, generates a virtual road for the recognizedroad and adds the generated virtual road to the road image of thedriving direction and displays the same, detects a point of a road fromthe position information, and displays traffic information andsurrounding information for each road at the detected point of therelevant road for each virtual road.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other exemplary aspects, features and advantages ofcertain exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be moreapparent from the following description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a terminal for a vehicleaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2A is a view illustrating that a camera and a sensor are configuredin a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2B is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus for obtainingsensor information and vehicle operation information in a vehicleaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a terminal for a vehicleaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary operation of a userinterface procedure for a terminal for a vehicle according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a screen showing a road image of a front side of a vehicle ina terminal for a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 6 is a screen showing a user interface in a terminal for a vehicleaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a screen showing a user interface in a terminal for a vehicleaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 are screens showing a user interface in a terminal fora vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;and

FIG. 10A and FIG. 10B are screens showing a user interface in a terminalfor a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

Throughout the drawings, like reference numerals will be understood torefer to like parts, components and structures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings isprovided to assist a person of ordinary skill in the art with acomprehensive understanding of exemplary embodiments of the UserInterface Method for a Terminal For a Vehicle and Apparatus thereof asdefined by the claims and their equivalents. The description containsvarious specific details to assist the person of ordinary skill in theart with that understanding but these details are to be regarded asmerely exemplary and illustrative. Accordingly, those of ordinary skillin the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of theexemplary embodiments described herein can be made without departingfrom the scope and spirit of the invention as defined by the appendedclaims. Also, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions maybe omitted for clarity and conciseness when their inclusion may obscureappreciation of the present invention with such well-known functions andconstructions.

The terms and words used in the following description and claims are notlimited to the bibliographical meanings, but, are merely used by theinventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of theinvention. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in theart that the following description of exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention are provided for illustrative purposes only and notfor the purpose of limiting the invention as defined by the appendedclaims and their equivalents.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a terminal for a vehicleaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring now to FIG. 1, the terminal 10 for a vehicle includes a caseframe 11 forming an appearance and the following elements inserted intothe case frame 11. The terminal 10 for a vehicle preferably includes adisplay 12 for displaying image data, a speaker 13 for outputting voicedata, a button 14 for input, a front camera 15-1 for image capturing, arear camera 15-2 (not shown), an antenna 16 required fortransmitting/receiving a Radio Frequency (RF) signal, and an externalconnector 17 for electrically connecting with an external device tocommunicate with the same. When a touch panel is added to the display12, a touch screen may be provided. The terminal 10 for a vehicle has asensor, included but not limited to a Global Positioning System (GPS)sensor to detect a position and a movement velocity. Furthermore, theterminal 10 for a vehicle provides a driving path to a destination usinga stored map, and provides traffic information regarding the drivingpath in the form of an image or voice. The traffic information regardingdriving may be received via various networks.

More particularly, the terminal 10 for a vehicle according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention detects a point of a roadcorresponding to the position of the terminal 10 itself using the GPSsensor. In addition, the terminal 10 obtains a road image of a frontdirection of the vehicle, that is, the driving direction via the rearcamera 15-2, and recognizes a road represented on the obtained roadimage to detect a road on which the terminal 10 itself is positioned.The terminal 10 generates a virtual road regarding the recognized roadand adds the virtual road to the image of the front direction of thevehicle. Furthermore, the terminal 10 obtains traffic information foreach road at the detected point of the road and informs the trafficinformation for each virtual road to assist the user in visualizes thesurrounding environment and possible risk. Furthermore, the terminal 10for a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention may communicate with a vehicle and receive sensor informationand vehicle operation information from the vehicle to inform theinformation for each virtual road. The sensor information provided bythe vehicle may be information detected by a distance sensor. Thedistance sensor detects a distance the vehicle is from an obstacle. Theobstacle can be fixed or in motion. The vehicle operation informationprovided by the vehicle may be information regarding a vehicle operationsuch as flickering of left/right directional light, steering operationof a steering wheel, on/off of a break, etc. Furthermore, the terminal10 may track a user's eyes viewing a screen using the front camera 15-1.As described later, only a relevant virtual road and correspondinginformation may be provided depending on flickering of the left/rightdirectional light or steering direction of the steering wheel, and theuser's eyes.

FIG. 2A is a view illustrating a camera and a sensor are configured in avehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.Referring now to FIG. 2A, a vehicle according to an exemplary embodimentof the present invention includes one or more distance sensors 21-1,21-2, 22-1, and 22-2 provided to the front, the rear, and the sides ofthe vehicle. The distance sensor detects a distance up to an obstacle.The distance sensor comprise an ultrasonic sensor or an infrared sensor.

FIG. 2B is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus for obtainingsensor information and vehicle operation information in a vehicleaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring now to FIG. 2B, the apparatus preferably includes a controller210 for performing a control of an overall operation, and acommunication unit 270 for communicating with the terminal 10 for avehicle. The elements for providing information to the controller 210may include a distance sensor 220, a directional light flicker detector230, a break operation detector 240, a steering detector 250, a cameraunit 260, etc. The distance sensor 220, which can use optical orultrasound, for example, detects a distance up to an object (forexample, a counterpart vehicle) in the front, the rear, or the sideway,separated from the vehicle, and informs the controller 210 of thedistance. The directional light flicker detector 230 detects flickeringof a left directional light or a right directional light and informs thecontroller 210 of the detected flickering. The break operation detector240 detects that a break operates and informs the controller 210 of thedetected operation. The steering detector 250 detects steering of thesteering wheel and informs the controller 210 of the detected steering.The camera unit 260 obtains an image of the front of the vehicle or animage of the rear of the vehicle and provides the obtained image to thecontroller 210. The controller 210, which comprises a processor ormicroprocessor, transmits information provided from respective elementsto the terminal for a vehicle via the communication unit 280. Thecontroller may be configured for communicating with “on-board” systemsthat are included in some newly built vehicles, and the presentinvention can replace or augment such systems.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a terminal for a vehicleaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring now to FIG. 3, the terminal for a vehicle preferably includesan image receiver 310, a sensor receiver 320, a vehicle operationinformation receiver 330, a traffic information receiver 340, an outputunit 350, a storage unit 360, an eyeball tracking unit 370, and acontroller 380. These components may be further separated or furtherintegrated than the exemplary layout shown in the drawings. The imagereceiver 310 receives image information and preferably includes avehicle camera image receiver 311 and a terminal camera image receiver312. The vehicle camera image receiver 311 receives image informationcaptured by a camera provided to the vehicle from the vehicle. Theterminal camera image receiver 312 receives image information capturedby cameras provided to the terminal. The terminal camera image receiver312 includes a front camera image receiver 313 for obtaining imageinformation captured by a front camera 315, and a rear camera imagereceiver 314 for obtaining image information captured by a rear camera316. The rear camera 316 keeps “eyes” on the front of a vehicle, thatis, a road of the driving direction.

A person of ordinary skill in the art viewing the terminal in FIG. 1will appreciate that camera 15-1 is positioned similarly to front camera315 and camera 15-2 is positioned similarly to rear camera 316. In otherwords, the “rear camera” is in the rear of the terminal 10, and when inthe vehicle, would capture in its intended position, would captureimages in front of the vehicle, whereas front camera 315 would captureimages of the driver or rear of the vehicle. Thus, if the terminal ispositioned, for example, on the top of the dashboard, the rear camera316 would obtain images of the front of the road, similar to rear camera15-2 (shown in FIG. 1) which is actually located in the back of theterminal 10, which is why it is not shown and represented by dashedlines. The front camera 315 observes a driver's view of a vehicle, andcould be positioned, for example, similar to front camera 15-1 shown inFIG. 1, at least in terms of front versus rear.

The sensor receiver 320 receives information detected by varioussensors, and includes a vehicle sensor receiver 321 and a terminalsensor receiver 322. The vehicle sensor receiver 321 receivesinformation detected by a sensor (for example, a distance sensor)provided to the vehicle from the vehicle. The terminal sensor receiver322 obtains information detected by sensors provided to the terminal.Known sensors provided to the terminal may be an acceleration sensor323, a gyro sensor 324, a GPS sensor 326, etc. More particularly,position information provided from the GPS sensor 326 is used fordetecting a point of a road corresponding to the position of theterminal, and thus, the position of the vehicle.

The vehicle operation information receiver 330 communicates with avehicle wirelessly or via a wired line, and receives informationregarding a vehicle operation from the vehicle. The vehicle operationmay be flickering of left/right directional light, steering of asteering wheel, on/off of a break, etc.

The traffic information receiver 340 receives information regarding afactor having an influence on traffic at the point of the road detectedusing the position information via at least one network. Moreparticularly, the traffic information receiver 340 may receive trafficinformation for each road, including the road currently being traveledon and adjacent roads or roads that recommended by navigation to arriveat one's desired destination. The factor having an influence on thetraffic may be a traffic circumstance for each road section, anaccident, a construction, etc.

The output unit 350 preferably includes an image output unit 351,typically a display) for outputting image data and a voice output unit352 for outputting voice data.

The storage 360 stores map data for providing a recommended path fortravel, a predetermined program for controlling an overall operation,and various data input/output when a control operation is performed.

The eyeball tracking unit 370 tracks a user's eye(s) while viewing ascreen from an image provided from the front camera image receiver 313of the image receiver 310, and informs the controller 380 of theposition of the user's eye(s) being tracked.

The controller 380, which comprises a processor or microprocessorconfigured to control an overall operation of the terminal, and includesa path generator 381, a road capture unit 382, a virtual road generator383, a traffic information indicator generator 384, a surroundinginformation indicator generator 385, and a voice generator 386.

The path generator 381 generates a path from map data of the storage 360and outputs the generated path to the output unit 350.

With continued reference to FIG. 3, the position determining unit 382receives position information from the terminal sensor receiver 322 todetect a point of a road corresponding to the position information.

The road capture unit 383 recognizes a road represented on a road imageof the front of a vehicle provided from the rear camera image receiver314, and detects a road as well as the particular lane corresponding tothe position of the vehicle having the terminal. The road capture unit383 may recognize a road and identify the lane by analyzing a road imageof the front of the vehicle via an image analysis method such as anintelligence analysis method, a two dimensional binary method, etc.

The virtual road generator 384 generates a virtual image of a road withtraffic lanes for a road recognized by the carriage capture unit 383,and adds the virtual image of the road to the image displayed of thefront of the vehicle afterward being output to the image output unit352.

The traffic information indicator generator 385 receives trafficinformation for each road obtained by the traffic information receiver340 with respect to a point of a relevant road detected by the positiondetermining unit 382, and loads an indicator for informing the user oftraffic information for each virtual road from the storage 360.

After that, the traffic information indicator generator 385 outputs arelevant indictor for each lane of the virtual road via the image outputunit 352. Furthermore, the traffic information indicator generator 385may represent a degree of swift driving (i.e. speed) using visuallydistinctive characteristics (i.e. different colors, brightness, size,highlighting, etc.,) of a virtual road based on the traffic informationfor each road and surrounding information. The surrounding informationis subsequently described herein. For example, a virtual road allowingrelatively high speeds may be represented using a blue color, and avirtual road requiring relatively slower driving may be representedusing a red color.

The surrounding information indicator generator 386 determinessurrounding information from information sensed by vehicle sensorsobtained by the sensor receiver 320 and information sensed by sensorsinside the terminal, and generates/loads an indicator for representingthe determined surrounding information from the storage 360. Thesurrounding information may include a distance up to a front vehicle, adistance up to a vehicle in the sideway, etc. After that, thesurrounding information indicator generator 386 outputs a relevantindicator for each virtual road via the image output unit 352. Forexample, an indicator representing a distance up to a front vehicle isdisplayed on a virtual road and/or a lane on which the vehicle ispositioned, and an indicator representing a distance up to a vehicle inthe sideway is displayed on a side virtual road.

The voice generator 387 loads voice regarding the traffic informationand the surrounding information from the storage 360, and outputs thevoice to the voice output unit 352.

More particularly, the controller 380 may control the elements to informa relevant virtual carriageway, corresponding traffic information, andcorresponding surrounding information depending on a user's eyesdetected by the eyeball tracking unit 370 among a plurality of virtualroads. For example, when the user views a left road on a road image ofthe front of a vehicle, a virtual road for the left road, correspondingtraffic information, and corresponding surrounding information aredisplayed.

Furthermore, the controller 380 may control the elements to inform arelevant virtual road, corresponding traffic information, andcorresponding surrounding information depending on information providedby the vehicle operation information receiver 330 among a plurality ofvirtual roads. For example, when a left directional light flickers or asteering wheel is rotated to the left, a virtual road for the left road,corresponding traffic information, and corresponding surroundinginformation are added to a road image of the front of the vehicle anddisplayed.

In addition, the controller 380 may show only a virtual road to whichthe vehicle belongs from among a plurality of virtual roads, and providetraffic information and surrounding information regarding this virtualroad.

In addition, the controller 380 may change a method for reportingtraffic information and surrounding information depending on informationprovided by the vehicle operation information receiver 330. For example,when the vehicle's braking system engages to slow or stop the vehicle,an indicator representing a distance up to another vehicle directly infront or in the path of the present vehicle where the driver andterminal are positioned is displayed in relief.

As described above, the controller 380 outputs data regarding a userinterface via the output unit 350 of the terminal for a vehicle. Thecontroller 380 is not limited thereto, but may transmit data regardingthe user interface to a vehicle that communicates with the terminal viaa wired line or wirelessly, and the vehicle may output the userinterface via a relevant output means (for example, a display), whichcan include audio, visual, or a combination thereof.

The controller 380 of the terminal for a vehicle according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention may preferably include theimage receiver 310, a sensor receiver 320, a vehicle informationreceiver 330, a traffic information receiver 340, and an eyeballtracking unit 370.

Based on this construction, a user interface method of the controller380 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention isdescribed with further reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary operation of a userinterface procedure for a terminal for a vehicle according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring now to FIG. 4, at (S401) the controller 380 obtains positioninformation to detect a point of a road corresponding to the positioninformation.

At (S403), the controller 380 obtains a road image of the area in frontof the vehicle, recognizes a road represented on the obtained roadimage, and detects the road where the terminal is positioned. Therecognition may optionally include the type of road and the name of theroad.

At (S405), the controller 380 generates a virtual image of the roadcorresponding to the recognized road from (S403), adds the virtual roadto the road image of the front of the vehicle, and displays the sameimage.

At (S407), the controller 380 obtains traffic information for each roadand surrounding information at the detected point of the road, andinforms the information for each virtual road.

FIG. 5 is a screen showing a road image of a front side of a vehicle ina terminal for a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention. This image is substantially similar to what a drivermight see looking through the windshield.

Referring now to FIG. 5, a road image 500 of the front of a differentvehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention iscaptured by viewing a driving direction using a camera in at least oneof a vehicle terminal or a camera of a vehicle. The road image 500 showsa surrounding vehicle, building, traffic lanes 511, 512, 513, and 514,and traffic lanes 501 and 502 discriminating respective roads. A vehicleand a terminal for a vehicle are positioned at a road 512 on the centerof the screen in the lane adjust the very-most left lane, when oneconsiders the solid line to be a painted or physical division fortraffic that moves in opposite directions.

FIG. 6 is a screen showing a user interface in a terminal for a vehicleaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring now to FIG. 6, a user interface according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention adds a virtual road corresponding toa recognized road onto a road image 600 in a driving direction anddisplays the same. More particularly, each lane of the virtual road isdesignated and displayed by a color representing a degree of the speedof driving depending on traffic information and surrounding information.For example, the driving speed can be divided into high, medium, andlow. A color corresponding to each degree may be designated. Forexample, a virtual lane 611 of the road whose driving speed is fast maybe represented by a red color, a virtual lane 612 whose driving speed islow may be represented by a blue color, and a virtual lane 613 whosedegree of swift driving is medium may be represented by a yellow color.

FIG. 7 is a screen showing a user interface in a terminal for a vehicleaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Asdescribed with reference to FIG. 6, the user interface according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention adds a virtual lanecorresponding to a recognized road onto the road image 600 of thedriving direction, and displays the same. More particularly, eachvirtual lane is designated and displayed using a color representing adegree of speed depending on traffic information and surroundinginformation. In FIG. 7, the color may signify slow speed as there is aconstruction sign, indicating that lane has construction further ahead(500 m away).

Furthermore, a user interface according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention adds an indicator 621 depending on trafficinformation for each lane of the road and indicators 622 and 623depending on surrounding information for each lane to a virtual road,and displays the same.

FIGS. 8 and 9 are screens showing a user interface in a terminal for avehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.The user interface displays the construction described in FIGS. 6 and 7.However, in the case where vehicle operation information, moreparticularly, a relevant directional light flickers or eyes are trackedto a relevant road of a road image, only an indicator of a relevantvirtual road and corresponding traffic information and an indicator ofsurrounding information are displayed. For example, when a leftdirectional light of a vehicle flickers or a user keeps eyes on a leftroad of a road image, indicators of a virtual road corresponding to theleft road, corresponding traffic information, and surroundinginformation are displayed.

FIGS. 10A and B are screens showing a user interface in a terminal for avehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

As illustrated in FIGS. 10A and 10B, when a path is designated, the pathis displayed (1010) on the road image 1000 of the front of the vehicleshown in real-time. However, as is known from a difference between FIG.10A and FIG. 10B, the path is shown based on a lane where the vehicle iscurrently positioned and if one were to follow the exact path shown ineither the lane in FIG. 10A or 10B, would receive a traffic infraction.The present invention would in lieu of or in association with GPS orother types of navigation, direct the driver to move to the rightmostlane at a safe and legal distance prior to exiting the road to followpath 1010.

Consequently, the present invention is helpful to a user's safe drivingby providing a virtual road with lanes based on the actual road beingtraveled, and includes traffic information for each lane and surroundinginformation to an image showing an actual road.

The above-described methods according to the present invention can beimplemented in hardware or via the execution of software or computercode that can be stored in a recording medium such as a CD ROM, an RAM,a floppy disk, a hard disk, or a magneto-optical disk or downloaded overa network and stored on a non-transitory machine readable medium, sothat the methods described herein can be rendered in such software usinga general purpose computer, or a special processor or in programmable ordedicated hardware, such as an ASIC or FPGA. As would be understood inthe art, the computer, the processor, microprocessor controller or theprogrammable hardware include memory components, e.g., RAM, ROM, Flash,etc. that may store or receive software or computer code that whenaccessed and executed by the computer, processor or hardware implementthe processing methods described herein. In addition, it would berecognized that when a general purpose computer accesses code forimplementing the processing shown herein, the execution of the codetransforms the general purpose computer into a special purpose computerfor executing the processing shown herein.

Although the invention has been shown and described with reference tocertain exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be madetherein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention asdefined by the appended claims and their equivalents. Therefore, thescope of the present invention should not be limited to theabove-described embodiments but should be determined by not only theappended claims but also the equivalents thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: acquiring, by an electronicdevice, an image including a road via a camera operatively coupled withthe electronic device; identifying, by the electronic device, at leastone traffic lane of the road based at least in part on the image,wherein the at least one traffic lane is a lane for movement oftraveling vehicles; obtaining, by the electronic device, guideinformation corresponding to the at least one traffic lane, the guideinformation including a traffic information in relation with theelectronic device; and displaying, by a display operatively coupled withthe electronic device, the guide information overlaid on the imageincluding the road.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtainingcomprises: recognizing at least one of a type of the road or a name ofthe road based on the image; determining a location on which theelectronic device is placed based on the recognition; and obtaining theguide information corresponding to the at least one traffic lane basedon the location.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the guide informationincludes traffic information in relation with a moving direction of theelectronic device.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the trafficinformation comprises at least one of a traffic flow, an accident, or aconstruction; and wherein the traffic information is received inrelation with at least one of a traffic lane on which the electronicdevice is placed, a traffic lane adjacent to a specified traffic lane,or a traffic lane being recommended.
 5. The method of claim 1, whereinthe guide information includes a distance between a vehicle in which theelectronic device is disposed and an object outside the vehicle.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, wherein further comprising: generating at least onevirtual lane corresponding to the at least one traffic lane; andcombining at least a portion of the image and the at least one virtuallane to produce a user interface; and displaying the user interface viaa display operatively coupled to the electronic device, wherein theguide information is displayed via the user interface.
 7. The method ofclaim 6, wherein generating the at least one virtual lane comprises:determining one or more characteristics of the at least one virtual lanebased on comparison about a specified value or a driving speed among aplurality of traffic lanes.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprisesobtaining directional information, wherein the displaying comprisesselecting, based on the obtained directional information, at least oneamong the at least one traffic lanes to provide the guide information.9. The method of claim 8, wherein the directional information is relatedwith at least one of a direction of a user's eye, a turn signal of avehicle in which the electronic device is disposed or a steering wheelof the vehicle.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the guide informationis obtained in relation with an operation of a braking system of avehicle in which the electronic device is disposed, and wherein thedisplaying comprises displaying an indicator representing a distancebetween the vehicle and another vehicle in front of the vehicle.
 11. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the guide information includes a driving pathof a vehicle in which the electronic device is disposed.
 12. Anelectronic device comprising: a display; and a processor-implementedcontroller operatively coupled with the display, theprocessor-implemented controller configured to: acquire an imageincluding a road via a camera operatively coupled with the electronicdevice; identify at least one traffic lane of the road based at least inpart on the image, wherein the at least one traffic lane is a lane formovement of traveling vehicles; obtain guide information correspondingto the at least one traffic lane, the guide information includingtraffic information in relation with the electronic device; and display,via the display, the guide information overlaid on the image includingthe road.
 13. The device of claim 12, wherein the controller isconfigured to: recognize at least one of a type of the road or a name ofthe road based on the image; determine a location on which theelectronic device is placed based on the recognition; and obtain theguide information corresponding to the at least one traffic lane basedon the location.
 14. The device of claim 12, wherein the guideinformation includes a distance between a vehicle in which the device isdisposed and another vehicle, and the controller is further configuredto: obtain vehicle operation information in relation with at least oneof a turn signal, a steering wheel or a braking system of the vehicle;and display the distance based at least in part on the vehicle operationinformation.
 15. The device of claim 12, wherein the controller isfurther configured to: identify a direction of a user's eye; and selectat least one traffic lane to display the guide information among the atleast one traffic lanes based on the identified direction of the user'seye.
 16. The device of claim 12, wherein the controller is furtherconfigured to: generate at least one virtual lane corresponding to theat least one traffic lane; and display the generated at least onevirtual lane along with the image.
 17. The device of claim 16, whereinthe controller is configured to: determine one or more characteristicsof the at least one virtual lane based on comparison about a specifiedvalue or a driving speed among a plurality of traffic lanes.
 18. Thedevice of claim 12, wherein the guide information includes a drivingpath of a vehicle in which the electronic device is disposed.
 19. Anon-transitory machine-readable storage device storing instructionsthat, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or moreprocessors to perform operations comprising: acquiring, by an electronicdevice, an image including a road via a camera operatively coupled withthe electronic device; identifying, by the electronic device, at leastone traffic lane of the road based at least in part on the image,wherein the at least one traffic lane is a lane for movement oftraveling vehicles; obtaining, by the electronic device, guideinformation corresponding to the at least one traffic lane, the guideinformation including traffic information in relation with theelectronic device; and displaying, by the electronic device, the guideinformation overlaid on the image including the road via a displayoperatively coupled with the electronic device.
 20. The method of claim1, wherein the displaying comprises: identifying a feature of the roadusing the image; and displaying the guide information based at least inpart on the feature.